Luke 13:22

Luk 13:22-24. And he went through the cities and villages, &c. — Being on his way to Jordan from the northeast parts of Peræa; teaching — Wheresoever he came; journeying toward Jerusalem — To which he had now begun to steer his course, intending to be there at the approaching feast of dedication, (Joh 10:22,) and to spend the little remainder of his time, during his continuance upon earth, in that city, or in the neighbouring parts, no more returning to these northern regions, till he should appear there after his resurrection. Then said one unto him — Somewhere on the road, probably soon after he had described the success of the gospel by the parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven: Lord, are there few that be saved — That is, shall but few be saved eternally? For the whole context, and especially our Lord’s answer, evidently shows, that no temporal preservation, but salvation from the wrath to come, and the enjoyment of eternal life, are intended. It is uncertain what motive induced this person to make this inquiry at this time, or what gave occasion to his making it. Perhaps the strictness of Christ’s doctrine made him apprehensive, that, according to it, few would be saved; and as this might be a stumbling-block in his way, therefore he wished for satisfaction on that head, in order to the removal of it. And his motive might be, not mere curiosity, as most commentators have supposed, but a desire to receive that information which might at once solve a difficulty with which he was perplexed, and minister in other respects to his spiritual profit: namely, that if the Lord Jesus (of whom, as a teacher, he seems to have formed a high opinion) should inform him but few would be saved, he might strive to be of those few; or if he should give him reason to think that the generality of his countrymen were in a safe state, and should attain eternal life, he might give himself no further unnecessary alarm, but might content himself with resembling them, and living as they did. From whatever motive the person here spoken of made the inquiry, and whatever gave occasion to his making it, our Lord thought proper, in his answer, to give him that advice upon it which might tend to his own salvation, it being not our concern to know how many will be saved, but how we may be saved. Our Lord therefore replied, Strive, &c. — As if he had said, By inquiring thus into the condition of others, you seem to be at ease with respect to yourselves. I must therefore advise you, instead of occupying your minds, and spending your time in such inquiries, with relation to others, to attend rather to what more nearly concerns yourselves, and be solicitous to secure your own salvation. For I must assure you, that though, as Jews, you have great advantages, the gate leading to eternal life is still strait; and that if you would be saved you must exert yourselves to the utmost.

Though our Lord does not here positively say, whether few or many would be saved; yet, in terming the gate strait, whereby the way leading unto eternal life is entered, he certainly intimates what he had elsewhere plainly declared, (see on Mat 7:13-14,) that but few of the adult Jews, of that generation, would be saved, whatever might be the case with that people in some future age. And is the Christian Church in general in a much better state than the Jewish Church was then in? Can professing Christians enter heaven without being conformed in principle and practice to the doctrine of Christ, any more than the Jews could enter it without a conformity to that of Moses and the prophets? But our Lord’s exhortation here implies another thing, namely, that the few that do enter in at this gate, do not enter without much opposition and difficulty. For this reason, also, he terms the gate strait, and exhorts us to strive, or rather to agonize, as the word αγωνιζεσθε properly signifies, that is, to contend and strive as in an agony, or, to exert our utmost strength to enter in, as Doddridge renders it, a sense which the word certainly very fully expresses; importing the act of contending in the most ardent and resolute manner, as with antagonists in games or in war; and may well be considered as intimating that the strait gate is beset with a variety of enemies, through which, if we aspire to a crown of eternal glory, we must force our way; a representation equally just and awakening. Compare 1Co 9:25; Col 1:29; 1Ti 6:12; 2Ti 4:7. “Here,” says Dr. Whitby, “Christ shows, that the number of them who may be saved is not defined by any decree of God, excluding all others from salvation, or rendering them unable to attain it; for, in that case, Christ must in vain have exhorted them to use their diligence to enter in at this strait gate; and yet, by saying, strive as in an agony to do it, he shows, that to do this requires great constancy, zeal, diligence, and courage, and a strong conflict with the devil, the world, and the flesh and therefore, that those only who thus strive will obtain it.” For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able — Trusting in their privileges as descendants of Abraham, in circumcision, in being favoured with the oracles and ordinances of God, and, in the mean time, living in neglect of faith, love, and obedience, of the mediation of the Messiah, of reconciliation with God through him, and the influences of the Divine Spirit; of the justification of their persons, and the renovation of their nature, and all the blessed fruits thereof. But not only many brought up Jews, but many Christians, so called, shall seek to enter in at this strait gate, and shall not be able: 1st, Because they seek in a wrong way, a way different from that which God hath prescribed, not bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance; not believing in Christ, and in the truths and promises of the gospel, with a faith working by love, and with their heart unto righteousness, or not following after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, or doing this in their own strength, and not in due dependence on the grace of the Divine Spirit. Or, 2d, They barely seek, and do not strive, or, agonize; do not seek with all their hearts, and with all diligence in the use of means. Or, 3d, as is implied in the next verse, they seek when it is too late, using, perhaps, importunate entreaties, (like the foolish virgins in the parable, Matthew 25.,) after the period of their trial is concluded, and their state is finally and irreversibly determined.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. He went through their cities and villages—This is Luke’s general heading for the Peraean ministry of Jesus. The cities and villages were those of the Transjordanic region, including Bethabara and the localities generally of John’s baptisms. See map.

But Luke really gives the teachings of Jesus for the closing two days of the Peraean ministry. See note on Luk_13:31.

THE PERAEAN MINISTRY, BETWEEN THE FEAST OF DEDICATION AND THE RETIREMENT TO EPHRAIM. Luk_13:22 to Luk_17:10. See Harmony, p. 101.

Jesus went to the Feast of Dedication, Joh_10:22-40. After which, according to Joh_10:40, he went to beyond Jordan, (Peraea,) where John at first baptized, and there abode. Many, as John assures us, who had the original testimony of the Baptist, were convinced of its fulfilment in him, and became believers on him. Of this PERAEN MINISTRY Luke here gives an account; covering apparently, however, but the two or three closing days. Jesus, then, as we learn from John, departed to raise Lazarus, and then retired to Ephraim.

A marked fact in this brief account of the Peraean ministry is the conversion of many Jewish publicans and [Gentile] sinners, and the Lord’s defences of them against the malignity of their Phariseean assailants. This contest draws out from Jesus a series of most striking discourses and parables. Jericho and the Jordan region probably abounded in Publicans and a Gentile population.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk_13:22. Went through cities, etc.—Not a direct journey. To Jerusalem.—The last journey through Peræa to Jerusalem.

Luk_13:23. Then said one.—Probably a Jew (see Luk_13:28); he can hardly have been a disciple. The question he asked was one frequently debated in Jewish schools, some maintaining universal salvation, others limiting it to a few elect (2Es_8:1). It is plain that by salvation is here meant final acceptance with God and entrance into heaven. Christ does not directly answer the question, but turns the attention of his hearers to the sort of persons that will be saved, rather than to their relative number. In Luk_13:29, however, the fact that the saved will be many in number seems to be hinted at.

Luk_13:24. Said unto them.—Not simply to him who asked the question; the answer Christ had to give deserved the attention of all. Strive.—In the plural; the word used is a very strong one, being taken from the contests in the arena, and might be rendered: “strain every nerve to force your way in.” Strait gate.—Rather, “narrow door” (R.V.): the word “gate” having been probably taken from Mat_7:13. Seek to enter in.—I.e., evidently by some other way than the narrow door of repentance and faith. There may be a contrast between seeking (i.e., desiring) and striving.

Luk_13:25. When once.—Lit. “from the time that.” There is great force in the abrupt transition from Luk_13:24 to Luk_13:25. “The image of the closed door is preserved. The master of the house, at a certain hour, rises from the table and closes the door, so that even the inmates who may be lingering out too late are not only refused admission, but are not recognised as members of his family” (Speaker’s Commentary). Some commentators have sought to tone down the harshness of the passage by punctuating it differently: “Shall not be able when once the master,” etc. The result is a faulty, clumsy construction of sentences in both the Greek and the English. Open to us.—Entrance claimed as a right based on former acquaintanceship, or, in other words, upon external privileges rather than worthiness of character.

Luk_13:26. In thy presence.—A very different thing from “eating and drinking with Him” (cf. Mat_26:29; Rev_3:20). The Christian can scarcely fail to think of the Lord’s Supper as an illustration of eating and drinking in Christ’s presence.

Luk_13:27. Workers of iniquity.—This is a peculiar phrase; it means “persons engaged in the hire and receiving the wages of unrighteousness.” In the corresponding passage in St. Matthew the word translated “iniquity” means “lawlessness”; the word here used means “unrighteousness”—“disregard of the fundamental principles of God’s kingdom.” This is an indication of the independence of the two accounts of the discourse.

Luk_13:28. Weeping and gnashing of teeth.—The signs respectively of grief and rage. Thrust out.—Rather, “cast forth without” (R.V.), “cast forth” because as Jews they had been born in the covenant.

Luk_13:29. And they shall come.—“In this and the preceding verse is the real answer to the question of Luk_13:23 given: ‘They shall be many; but what is that to you if you be not among them?’ ” (Alford).

Luk_13:30. There are last, etc.—I.e., some who are first to believe will fall from their high place, and vice versâ. This has been strikingly fulfilled in the ruin of the Oriental Churches, which were the first to be founded and were once in a flourishing condition. The Mother Church of Jerusalem, too, has declined, while Gentile offshoots have flourished.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Luk_13:22-30

The question, “Lord, are there few that be saved?” might in itself be the anxious inquiry of a devout mind, animated by a true love for others. But the tone of Christ’s reply inclines one to conclude that the question had been inspired by frivolous curiosity. Our Lord does not say anything as to the number of the saved, but He speaks of “many who will seek to enter into the kingdom of heaven and not be able.” The reasons for this state of matters are that the door of entrance is narrow, and exertion is needed for pressing in at it, and that one day the door will be shut. From the nature of the reply which Christ makes we are justified in concluding that the man who put the question had no doubt about his own salvation, and trusted in his privileges, as a son of Abraham, as raising him above all danger of losing the inheritance of eternal life. Our Lord, however, warns him and all who were present of the conditions on which entrance into the kingdom of heaven is based, and of the danger of being excluded from it. He uses the familiar figure of a feast to which guests are invited, and describes the attitude taken up by the Master of the house towards guests and towards would-be guests.

I. The Master of the house.—This can be no other than Himself, for in Luk_13:26 He speaks of eating and drinking at the tables of men, and of teaching in the streets of their cities. We note, therefore, the contrast which He implies as existing between the relations which He then held with men and those which one day He would assume. Now He is an ambassador from God, persuading men to be reconciled to Him, and laying the foundation of a lasting peace between heaven and earth. But a time will come when He will sternly banish from His presence those who have refused to accept Him as their Lord, and to obey His commands. The supreme authority to open and shut the door of the kingdom of heaven, which He here claims, is in striking contrast to His present circumstances. There is at first something repellent in the sternness of attitude which He represents Himself as assuming towards some who will seek to enter in. But a moment’s consideration convinces us that there is nothing unjust or unduly harsh in His procedure. Those whom He excludes are the self-righteous and hypocritical—those who, under a guise of discipleship, have been “workers of iniquity” (Luk_13:27). The very idea of such persons being admitted, without undergoing a change of character—for in their supposed dialogue with Him they do not seem to recognise the necessity for any such change—is utterly absurd. Heaven would cease to be heaven if the ungodly were received indiscriminately into it. However sad, therefore, it is to think of any of us excluded from it, we cannot accuse the Master of the house as manifesting injustice in the course which He takes. On the contrary, we see His broad and generous love displayed in the invitation given to all who dwell in the earth to press into the kingdom. Not alone from the favoured nation of Israel, but from east and west, north and south, does He anticipate receiving guests at the heavenly banquet.

II. The guests who obtain admittance.—They are those who “strive”—those who are really in earnest in religion and put forth their whole strength to secure entrance into the kingdom of heaven. They realise the greatness of the blessings which it implies, and are determined to make them their own; they discern the obstacles that lie in the way of the fulfilment of their desire, and resolutely overcome them. Such obstacles consist in the weakness of the carnal nature, which cannot for long continue in any holy enterprise; in the temptations which beset the life; and in the severe requirements of the law of God. But those who are found worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven recognise their own weakness, and in humility rely upon Divine strength; they trust, not in themselves, but in their Saviour and God. Hence, though the door into the kingdom is too narrow to admit the self-righteous and unbelieving, it allows those who draw near in humility and faith to enter in. “To strive” implies not only great, but also sustained effort—an attitude and endeavour steadily maintained from day to day. Religion, therefore, is not merely a mood belonging to special times and occupations, but it is an influence that should tell upon every department of the life. While doing many things, the Christian can still be bent upon doing the one thing; in all that engages his attention and employs his powers he can find opportunity for honouring and serving God. Genuine holiness is a distinguishing mark of those who are guests in the heavenly kingdom. It is the result of their humility and faith and endeavour, and qualifies them to partake in those spiritual blessings which God has reserved for them that love Him.

III. The would be guests who are excluded.—They seem to be excluded by the will of the Master of the house, but they are really self-excluded. They have not striven, and therefore have failed to find entrance. In other words, they have not been in earnest in religion—they have been content with merely professing devotion to Christ, and have all through been “workers of iniquity.” They claim to know Christ, but He does not know them as belonging to Him. Another master has had them in his service, and from him they must receive their recompense. The knowledge of Christ upon which they lay such stress is merely external. They have been in His presence, but have not been in communion with Him; they have heard His voice, but have not obeyed His word. The privileges they have enjoyed, but by which they have not profited, turn to their condemnation. Those who thought highly of themselves, and stood prominently forward as professed disciples, find themselves on their true level at the last—and in a low place. Others, upon whom they may have looked with contempt, come to the front, and are welcomed to the feast, from which they are excluded. And how great will be the misery of those who are thus “thrust out” Christ hints in the significant phrase, “there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth”—sorrow and pain, in comparison with which all other emotions and sensations of that type are as nothing. It is in mercy that Christ reveals the suffering to which those who reject God and goodness doom themselves; He draws aside the veil that we may be warned, and may take advantage of the day of grace and of the offer of salvation.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk_13:22-30

Luk_13:22-30. Who may Enter the Kingdom?

I. Few or many? An idle and useless question.

II. None enter without personal effort.

III. Some will never enter.

IV. Some will be too late in seeking to enter.

V. Some will enter from unexpected quarters.—Taylor.

Luk_13:23. “Are there few that be saved?”—The inquirer was evidently doubtful as to whether many would be saved, but had no doubt that he himself would be saved. Many, like him, are very much interested in questions of religion which have no direct bearing upon conduct, but are merely speculative. Christ here refuses to gratify a prurient curiosity, and advises arduous endeavours to enter into the kingdom of God.

How the Question may be Asked.—This question may

(1) be asked haughtily by one who has his mind made up on the point, and is prepared to contradict a reply which does not meet with his approval.

(2) It may be uttered good-naturedly, with vague good wishes and hopes on behalf of self and others.

(3) It may be proposed with a measure of anxiety and godly fear.

What Sort rather than How Many.—It rather concerns us to know what sort of persons will be saved, than how many or how few.

Luk_13:24-30. The Necessity for Striving.

I. The duty of earnest and strenuous diligence in religious life.

II. The reason for this duty.—Every one may be saved, but many will not, through their own fault. Many who think they are secure of a place in the kingdom will find themselves shut out (Luk_13:24-28). While others, who might be supposed, from their meagre advantages, to be unprepared for it, will find an entrance into it.

Luk_13:24-25. Two great dangers.

I. The door is a narrow one.—Too narrow to admit those who are burdened with sinful habits, and those who are puffed up with a trust in their self-righteousness.

II. The door will one day be shut.—The time of probation will draw to an end; the offer of mercy which has been slighted will be withdrawn.

Luk_13:24. “Strive.”—

1. By earnest prayer.

2. By strenuous resistance to temptation.

3. By avoiding all occasions of sin.

4. By attending diligently on every means of grace.

“Strive to enter.”—Difficulties in our way.

I. From our own natural state.

1. Ignorance.

2. Unbelief.

3. Aversion to good, and proneness to evil.

II. From the nature of a religious life, it requires—

1. Faith.

2. Repentance.

3. Mortification of sinful desires.

4. Self-denial.

III. From the opposition of enemies.

“The strait gate.”

I. Where does it stand?—Not above the sky; it is here on earth, at the entrance of the path to the mansion.

II. The difference between striving and seeking.—It is a real distinction. There may be seeking without striving, inquiry without eagerness.

III. The inability of many to enter. This has nothing to do with the purposes of the Most High, but only with the strength of man. The strength of nature is perfect weakness in the mortal struggle; but how fully, how sufficiently, has help been provided!—Smith.

“Will seek to enter in,” etc.—Where striving is necessary, mere seeking or desiring will not avail. Entrance is refused

(1) to those also who seek too late (Pro_1:28-29; Isaiah 1-15; Joh_7:34; Heb_12:17), and

(2) to those seek to come in by other ways than by the one Door (Joh_10:9; Joh_14:6).

“Not be able.”—

1. Because they seek half-heartedly.

2. Or seek in the wrong way.

3. Or seek too late.

An Exhortation and a Warning.

I. Strive.—Lit. “agonise,” obey and fulfil the holy will of God, whatever struggles or sacrifices may be involved in so doing—put forth the intensest effort of which you are capable.

II. Many will seek and not be able.—Many, indeed all, have a desire to be admitted into heaven, but only some are willing to undertake the arduous labour which is needed to secure entrance into that kingdom.

“Seek … and not be able.”—Some seek admission into the favour of God and eternal happiness without conversion, or faith in the Divine Saviour; others seek the blessing in a slothful manner, or in the use of such means as God has never appointed; others, with reserves for their worldly interest, reputation, or sinful pleasures, or for avoiding reproach or persecution. In these and similar ways, many come short of salvation, notwithstanding convictions, temporary seriousness and earnestness, and partial reformation. But it is by procrastination especially that men “will seek to enter in and not be able.”—Scott.

“Hath shut to the door.”—He who will not open the door of his heart in this life to the Saviour when He knocks, will knock in vain there for the Saviour to open His door to him.

Ground for Suspecting that we are not Striving.—If my religion is only a formal compliance with those modes of worship which are in fashion where I live; if it cost me no pain or trouble; if it lays me under no rules or restraint; if I have no careful thoughts and sober reflections about it;—is it not great weakness to think that I am striving to enter in at the strait gate?—Law.

Unseasonable Seeking.—It is not the weakness of the endeavour which is blamed, but its being out of season, the right time having been squandered away. This is represented as not less culpable, nor less extreme in the dangerous nature of its consequences, than the want of all effort. He who has not sowed in spring must expect no success, how earnestly soever he labours in harvest.—Olshausen.

Luk_13:25-27. A Note of Warning—

I. No nearness of external communion with Christ will avail at the Great Day, in place of that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.”

II. The style which Christ announces that He will then assume—that of absolute Disposer of men’s eternal destinies—and contrast this with His “despised and rejected” condition when He uttered these words.—Brown.

Fruitless Seeking.—These verses contain two examples of fruitless and vain seeking to enter—

I. They knock and call, but too late.

II. They appeal, but in vain, to their acquaintance with the master of the house. Observe the striking climax: first, standing some time without, then knocking, then calling, finally reminding of former acquaintance; but all in vain.

Luk_13:25. “When once the Master,” etc.—Awfully sublime and vivid picture. At present He is represented as in a sitting posture, as if calmly looking on to see who will “strive” while entrance is practicable. But this is to have an end, by the great Master of the house Himself rising and shutting the door, after which there will be no admittance.—Brown.

The Closed Door.—A reason why this striving is so important: because there will be a day when the gate will be shut. The figure is the usual one, of a feast, at which the householder entertains (in this case) the members of his family. These being assembled, he rises and shuts the door, and none are afterwards admitted.—Alford.

Luk_13:26. Eaten and Drunk in Thy Presence.—

1. External acts of communion with Christ.

2. Outward privileges enjoyed. Neither of these will avail us if in the meantime we have been workers of iniquity.

“In thy presence.”—Very different from the drinking “with you” of which He speaks in Mat_26:29, and from the “I will sup with him and he with Me” in Rev_3:20.

“Taught in our streets.”—

1. Salvation brought very near.

2. The absence of the disposition of heart which would lead to receiving His words and doing them.

Claiming a Right.—The earnestness is not that of those seeking for mercy, but of those claiming a right, and basing their claim on something merely external.

Luk_13:27. “Workers of iniquity.”—Those in the employ of, and receiving the wages of, unrighteousness.

Luk_13:28-29. Many in the Kingdom of God.—In these verses the real answer to the question of Luk_13:23 is given: “They shall be many, but what is that to you, if you be not among them?”

Luk_13:28. “Weeping and gnashing of teeth.”—

1. Sorrow at the loss of privileges and blessings.

2. Rage at seeing others enter on the possession of them.

Luk_13:30. “Last which shall be first,” etc.—

1. Those disadvantageously placed, who overcome obstacles in their way.

2. Those highly privileged, who do not avail themselves of the opportunities within their reach. The Church at Jerusalem, and the Oriental Churches, furnish illustrations of the latter.

“First which shall be last.”—Prodigals often repent, and get before decent moralists; the Gentile converts obtained the priority to the Jewish nation; splendid hypocrites apostatise, and open persecutors become preachers of the gospel, and those who have been the grief and reproach of families and neighbourhoods, sometimes become their chief credit and blessing; whilst plausible characters are by this very circumstance rendered more inveterate against the truth.—Scott.

An Encouragement and a Warning.—

1. An encouragement to those called late in life.

2. A solemn warning to those called early, urging them to be humble and ever mindful of their unworthiness before God, lest they be overtaken by others, or forfeit their reward altogether.

They must be on their guard against trusting to appearances or to the permanence of present circumstances and conditions: priority in time is not necessarily priority in position.

“This word should strike terror into the heart of the greatest saints” (Luther).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. A Serious Answer to an Idle Question (Luk_13:22-30)

22And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And [But] he 24said unto them, Strive [Ἀγωνίζεσθε] to enter in at the strait gate [through the narrow door4]: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27But [And] he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me,all ye workers of iniquity. 28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God.and you yourselves thrust out. 29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down [recline at table, ἀνακλιθή σονται] in the kingdom of God. 30And, behold, there are last which shall be first; and there are first which shall be last.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_13:22. And He went.—According to our view the historical matter which Luke gives in Luk_13:22 to Luk_17:10, should follow immediately after the Saviour’s presence at the feast of the Purification of the Temple, Joh_10:22-39. From Jerusalem the Saviour repaired to the land beyond Jordan, and the region “where John at first baptized,” Joh_10:40. There He remained until the account of the sickness of Lazarus called Him to Bethany, Joh_11:6. About this time, therefore, there took place the journey from Peræa to Judæa, which lasted about three days, and nothing hinders us in Luke’s narrative of travel, Luk_13:22 seq., from understanding particularly this journey. See Wieseler, l. c., p. 322. With Luke 17, then, the account of the Saviour’s last journey to the feast of Purification properly first begins. That we are at liberty to understand the words εἰς Ἱερουσαλ., Luk_13:22, quite as well of the direction as of the purpose of the journey, will hardly be disputed; but that it here must be taken in the former signification, results from the comparison with John 2:54. Jesus’ answer also to the Pharisees, which He, according to Luk_13:31, gave them on the very day of the departure, agrees in respect to the chronological datum contained therein in a remarkable manner with Joh_11:6; and even the conjecture of the above-named chronologist appears to us by no means without reason, that the name Lazarus in the parable, Luk_16:19-31, was also chosen by the Saviour intentionally, in the thought of His just-deceased friend.

Luk_13:23. Then said one.—Time and place are not particularly stated. Even the matter of the question would not give us any right to pass a less favorable judgment upon the inquirer, if the Saviour’s answer did not of itself induce the conjecture that the man hitherto had not been rightly in earnest to procure his own salvation. In any case he was only an external follower of Jesus, Luk_13:24, who did not suppose that there could be any ground for him to be seriously concerned about the deliverance of his own soul. Apparently the question had been elicited by what he had, either himself or from others, come to know of the lofty strictness of the requirements of Jesus, to which, however, only few gave ear.

Are there few that be saved?—Respecting the peculiar significance of εἰ in such questions see Meyer, ad loc. “Dubitanter interrogat, ita ut interrogatio videatur directa esse.” Saved by reception into the Messianic kingdom under the conditions fixed therefor.

Luk_13:24. Strive, ἀγωνίζεσθε, “Certate.”—From the way in which the Saviour answers, it sufficiently appears how He judges the question and the questioner. It appears from this that the man had not asked this question from inward interest, nor even from compassion upon so many who might perhaps be lost, and least of all out of concern for the salvation of his own soul. It had rather been a question from pure curiosity, which was joined with frivolity and pride. Without giving a distinct decision, the Saviour brings the question immediately from the sphere of abstract theory to that of pure Praxis, and does not even address His words to the questioner alone, with whom He does not further converse, but to all who were to-day listening to Him. That, however, the Saviour’s instruction contains an answer—it is true indirect, but yet satisfactory and powerful—to the question addressed Him, strikes us at once on comparing the two, and we cannot, therefore, find any ground for the conjecture that such questions are only employed by Luke, as well here as in Luk_12:41, as elsewhere, in order to continue the discourse (De Wette). On the other hand, precisely such traits appear to us to bear the stamp of life and movement, freshness and simplicity. We may with safety assume that the questioner was more or less surprised at the small number of the followers of Jesus, but quite as certainly did he hold himself assured, above many, of the inheritance of eternal life, according to the popular faith of the Jews: “Omni Israelitœ erti portio in mundo futuro.” See Lightfoot, ad loc.

The narrow door.—Comp. Lange on Mat_7:13. We can find nothing improbable in supposing that the Saviour used so simple and speaking an image in His public instructions more than once, and the less as it is here brought up in a peculiar way.

Many shall seek.—We have doubtless here to understand such a seeking as does not yet deserve the name ἀγωνίζεσθαι,—a seeking, therefore, without true earnestness, and without the firm purpose to obtain entrance at any price. Even when one knows more than a superficial longing to be saved, he often seeks its satisfaction in his own way, and therefore misses the true goal. It is worthy of notice that those who are here represented as ζητήσοντες desire it is true the entrance, but not definitely διὰ τῆς στενῆν θύρας. One may do much for his own salvation, and without success, if he omits the one thing that is needful.

Shall not be able.—Understand principally the moral impossibility of entering into God’s kingdom in another way than that of the narrow gate (=μετάνοια). When this shall come to light the Saviour shows, Luk_13:25-27.

Luk_13:25. When (namely).—The Luk_13:25-27 contain two examples of fruitless and vain seeking to enter. First, they knock, and call, but too late; then, Luk_13:27, they appeal, but without reason, to their acquaintance with the master of the house. The similitude is not borrowed from a wedding to which single guests come too late (Mat_25:10-12), but from a family whose head has waited as long as possible for a return of the members of the family wandering about outside; who now, when the time of waiting has expired, inexorably refuses to admit them. Observe the striking climax: first, standing some time without, then knocking, then calling, finally reminding of former acquaintance, but all in vain.

I know ye not whence ye are.—With these words the Lord in the most decided way denies that they, let them be otherwise what they would, are members of His family. This declaration is immediately after repeated, yet with still greater emphasis, which sufficiently shows that the judgment is inexorable, and that a stern ἀπόστητε follows it. “How can He call them workers of iniquity if He is so wholly ignorant of them? For this very reason: because they outwardly stood so very near to Him, and have become inwardly so very strange to Him; have become, in the figurative sense, barbarians, whose origin is so wholly from a remote distance, so deeply back in the darkness, that the Lord of worlds, so to say, cannot know their descent; and because they, by the fact that they have for the Saviour of the world so darkened their being, betray that they must have come by great evil deeds to this terrible self-marring.” Lange.

Luk_13:26. We have eaten and drunk.—See on Mat_7:22. Here we are especially to emphasize the fact that it is an eating and drinking before the Lord (ἐνώπιον) that is spoken of, without inward communion with Him; while what follows, “in our streets,” is meant to signify that He had previously, at all events, known them well, and that it was almost impossible that they should now be so entirely strange to Him. The attempt to bring the apparently so forgetful master of the house in this way to recollection is taken from the very life. The reminder of His teaching and preaching on the streets indicates at the same time that it is no one else that is here spoken of than the very Christ who appeared in the flesh.

Luk_13:28. There shall be.—In a certain sense a third ἄρξεσθε, and that the most terrible of all. The expelled are now represented as those who find themselves in the midst of night (hell), but at this remove are yet witnesses of the joy which awaits the members of the family. As participants of this joy the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament come here into the foreground, the spiritual ancestors of the same children who now, through their own fault, have become so wretched. The Marcionitic reading, πάντας τοὺς δικαίους, designedly withdraws from the representation this Israelitish element which the connection necessarily requires, and is, therefore, on this internal ground to be rejected (against Volkmar).

Luk_13:29. And they shall come.—See on Mat_8:11-12.—It is worthy of note that here the mention of the πολλοί is omitted, which we find in the parallel passage. For the Saviour would, by the repetition of this word, even here, have given a decided answer to the question (Luk_13:23), which, however, was not in His intention, and was in conflict with His wisdom in teaching. Yet, from the image of a company at table, we may perhaps infer that we are not to understand individuals only. As respects, moreover, the significance of the judgment here passed by the Saviour, we must undoubtedly concede that by it, according to the connection, not eternal damnation, but the temporal exclusion of the Jews from the blessings of the Messianic kingdom is meant (Stier), while on the other hand nothing hinders, us either from referring the here-applied Biblical method of speech in its whole force to the eternal fate of those who persevere in unbelief and impenitence even to the end.

Luk_13:30. There are last.—“Respecting the originality of these gnomes, uttered in various places and in different connections, we cannot in any one passage decide.” Meyer. The sense is, however, in the different passages, different. Mat_19:30 the πρῶτοι are it is true ἔσχατοι, but not for that entirely excluded from the kingdom of God; here they decidedly are. There it is only a putting back, here it is an entire rejection, that takes place. There the Saviour had in mind servants craving reward, here unbelieving rejectors of Himself. Besides, He here speaks (without article) in a wholly general manner of some πρῶτοι and of some ἔσχατοι, and thereby leads the questioner (Luk_13:22) back into his own heart, that he may maturely weigh on which side he stands.

What impression this whole instruction of the Saviour made upon this unnamed man the Scripture does not mention. Apparently it was too superficial to enable him to fathom in its whole fulness the deep sense of the word—the decided announcement of the rejection of Israel. It, however, remains remarkable, and also serves as a proof that these chapters in Luke have reference to the last period in the public life of our Lord, that it is precisely here and in the three parables of the following chapter, that this thought of the calling of the Last before the unthankful First, comes so strongly into the foreground. It is shown in this that the fruitless labor of Jesus on the house of Israel is now soon to come to an end.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. This whole discourse affords a weighty contribution to the right estimation of the kingdom of God. On the one hand this appears before us as something in the highest degree desirable. He who enters therein is blessed (Luk_13:23); he finds himself in the most desirable company of the blessed (Luk_13:28-29), and has received a place among the first (Luk_13:30); but on the other hand it is impossible to inherit this kingdom without personal conflict, and although not a few sit there at table (Luk_13:29), yet many seek access in vain (Luk_13:24). Without doubt the Saviour has here in the mention of these fruitless seekers, not only the unrighteous, but also the self-righteous in mind. Accordingly, the here proposed question is not hard to answer. The entrance to the kingdom of God is not so difficult as many have believed, for the narrow door stands open to all; but this entrance, again, is not so easy as many imagine, for only with hard conflict does one enter therein, and many seek it in vain.

2. As upon the nature of this kingdom, so is there here thrown upon the character of its King a bright light. On the one hand we are seized with a sense of His holy severity; on the other, of His love stooping to the dust. But above all we admire His incomparable wisdom in teaching, by which He knows how to bring back the questioner from the unfruitful domain of speculation to that of Praxis. In this view the Saviour is a never-equalled example, especially for spiritual converse with such members of the Church as direct their eye rather to the dark than to the bright side of the Gospel; who subtilize upon the βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ; who would rather dispute about predestination than listen to the personal requirements of faith and conversion; in a word, who continually are beginning, where on the other hand they ought to stand still and conclude. Comp. Deu_29:29. Unnecessary questions the Gospel answers only to a certain degree; but to the one thing that is needful the answer is to be read, Act_16:30-31.

3. Here also, as in Luk_13:34-35, the Saviour gives for the failure of so many to be saved, an ethical, no metaphysical ground. He considers the matter entirely from the anthropological side. Very especially is this method a fitting and profitable one for popular instruction.

4. What the Saviour here says in relation to the rejection of Israel must be complemented from that which His apostle teaches respecting this (Rom_11:25-26); the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. What, however, gives to this instruction the highest significance for all following times and races, is the earnest declaration that no outer participation in the blessings of the Messianic kingdom can give claim to future blessedness, unless one has really taken in earnest the requirement of μετάνοια.

5. The inexorable sternness with which the householder, even after the repeated calling and begging, unconditionally refuses entrance, contrasts remarkably with the great laxity with which many preachers and theologians continually bring forward the ἀποκατάστασις πάντων as an infallible expectation. Without the solemn conception of an “everlastingly too late,” the preaching of the Gospel is robbed of its most salutary salt.

6. Even if we do not venture with Bengel to maintain that in the order of the four regions of Heaven (East, West, North, South), the course of the history of missions, which began in the Orient, and now stand in the South, is given, yet unquestionably the here-uttered principle: “There are last,” &c., has its great significance, even for Christian mission labor. Many nations that might be called first, compared with other participants of the faith, and heirs of the kingdom, have retrograded, because they have become sluggish and cold. Others, who were originally poor, unknown, and in the background, come forward in the ranks of Christian nations with honor. And what is here said of first and last has found its literal fulfilment in Israel and the heathen world. Christian Europe may well pray that this may not become true in respect of itself, and that the rain of the Spirit which bedews America and the remote heathen lands, may not continue withheld from its own soil.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The question: What shall I do to be saved? the most urgent question of life.—The question whether few are saved, may be put from different motives: 1. From idle curiosity; 2. from concealed concern; 3. from secret pride; 4. from true love of man.—Salvation no matter of abstract speculation, but of persevering personal conflict.—Strive to enter in: 1. A weighty requirement; 2. a just requirement; 3. a beneficent requirement; 4. a practicable requirement.—Many seek to enter in but are not able: 1. When they will enter in through another door than the narrow one; 2. when they will enter in through the narrow door indeed, but only if they have made it somewhat wider; 3. when they will enter in through the narrow door indeed, but without leaving behind what cannot be taken along.—Salvation as far from being easy as from being impossible.—The solemn significance of the “everlastingly too late.” First are able, but will not; afterwards will, but are not able.—The narrow door: 1. Sought too slothfully; 2. found too late.—The door is closed: 1. When? 2. for whom? 3. for how long?—We must be born of God, or else the Lord Himself does not know whence we are.—No excuses will help when the day of grace has gone by.—Knocking at the door of grace helps on this side, but not on the other side, of the grave.—The increased anger of the Jews when they saw that others were called to the participation of the salvation by themselves refused, revealed itself even in their bitterness towards the first believing Gentiles. Acts 15:45, 46.—The fathers called out of pure grace, the children thrust out by their own fault.—The kingdom of God is like to a feast: 1. The entertainment; 2. the entertainer; 3. the guests; 4. the spectators.—A too-late repentance is in vain. Many first shall be last; many last shall be first. 1. The truth of this saying: a. in the days of the Saviour, b. in the Christian world of all following days, c. in the sphere of missions; 2. Causes of this phenomenon: a. pride and slothfulness of many first, b. the earnestness and eagerness for salvation of many last, c. the holy love of God which regards all according to their works; 3. Value of this observation: it preaches a. to the last courage, b. to the first humility, c. to both faith on the Lord, who will be the centre of union between first and last.—“This saying should terrify the greatest saints.” Luther.

Starke:—It is indeed of moment to know the character of those who are saved, but not the number of the saved.—Canstein:—Men have indeed the desire for future blessedness, but it is the smallest number who value it so highly that for it they are willing to give up the present and visible.—Quesnel:—God has His hours, which man must not let slip by in vain.—Zeisius:—Late repentance seldom true repentance.—Osiander:—Hypocrites are before God, with all their outward holiness, but workers of iniquity.—Brentius:—Who here in the kingdom of grace will not be a citizen, and member of God’s family, cannot be such in the kingdom of glory; one has relation to the other.—They who are farthest from the kingdom of God often receive it most eagerly.—Lord, everlasting thanks to Thee that Thou hast also called the heathen!—Canstein:—God has at all times the Church on earth; He is not bound to any nation.—Boast not of thy prerogatives above others; it may before evening turn out otherwise than it was at early morning.—Heubner:—There was here a question of curiosity. Many such there are; so was also the question concerning the salvation of the heathen, and concerning evil angels, among theologians, often more a curious one than otherwise.—The idle expectations of those who imagine themselves to have a right to salvation.—Not rank or nation, or the like, makes worthy of salvation, but doing according to Jesus’ will.

Footnotes:

[4]Luk_13:24.—Θύρας, according to B., D., L., [Cod. Sin., T.] The Rec. πύλης is taken from Mat_7:13.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luke

THE STRAIT GATE

Luk 13:22 - Luk 13:30.

‘Are there few that be saved?’ The questioner’s temper and motives may be inferred from the tone of Christ’s answer, which turns attention from a mere piece of speculative curiosity to the grave personal aspect of the condition of ‘salvation,’ and the possibility of missing it. Whether few or many went in, there would be many left out, and among these some of the listeners. Jesus speaks to ‘them,’ the multitude, not to the questioner. The men who approach solemn subjects lightly, and use them as material for raising profitless questions for the sake of getting religious teachers in a corner, exist still, and are best answered after Christ’s manner.

Of course, the speaker meant by being ‘saved’ participation in Messiah’s kingdom, regarded in the carnal Jewish fashion; and our Lord’s reply is primarily directed to setting forth the condition of entrance into that kingdom, as the Jew expected it to be manifested on earth. But behind that immediate reference lies a solemn unveiling of the conditions of salvation in its deepest meaning, and of the danger of exclusion from it.

I. We note, first, the all-important exhortation with which Christ seeks to sober a frivolous curiosity.

In its primary application, the ‘strait gate’ may be taken to be the lowliness of the Messiah, and the consequent sharp contrast of His kingdom with Jewish high-flown and fleshly hopes. The passage to the promised royalty was not through a great portal worthy of a palace, but by a narrow, low-browed wicket, through which it took a man trouble to squeeze. For us, the narrow gate is the self-abandonment and self-accusation which are indispensable for entrance into salvation.

‘The door of faith’ is a narrow one; for it lets no self-righteousness, no worldly glories, no dignities, through. Like the Emperor at Canossa, we are kept outside till we strip ourselves of crowns and royal robes, and stand clothed only in the hair-shirt of penitence. Like Milton’s rebel angels entering their council chamber, we must make ourselves small to get in. We must creep on our knees, so low is the vault; we must leave everything outside, so narrow is it. We must go in one by one, as in the turnstiles at a place of entertainment. The door opens into a palace, but it is too strait for any one who trusts to himself.

There must be effort in order to enter by it. For everything in our old self-confident, self-centred nature is up in arms against the conditions of entrance. We are not saved by effort, but we shall not believe without effort. The main struggle of our whole lives should be to cultivate self-humbling trust in Jesus Christ, and to ‘fight the good fight of faith.’

II. We note the reason for the exhortation.

It is briefly given in Luk 13:24 {last clause}, and both parts of the reason there are expanded in the following verses. Effort is needed for entrance, because many are shut out. The questioner would be no better for knowing whether few would enter, but he and all need to burn in on their minds that many will not.

Very solemnly significant is the difference between striving and seeking. It is like the difference between wishing and willing. There may be a seeking which has no real earnestness in it, and is not sufficiently determined, to do what is needful in order to find. Plenty of people would like to possess earthly good, but cannot brace themselves to needful work and sacrifice. Plenty would like to ‘go to heaven,’ as they understand the phrase, but cannot screw themselves to the surrender of self and the world. Vagrant, halfhearted seeking, such as one sees many examples of, will never win anything, either in this world or in the other. We must strive, and not only seek.

That is true, even if we do not look beyond time; but Jesus carries our awed vision onwards to the end of the days, in the expansion of his warning, which follows in Luk 13:25 - Luk 13:27. No doubt, the words had a meaning for His hearers in reference to the Messianic kingdom, and a fulfilment in the rejection of the nation. But we have to discern in them a further and future significance.

Observe that the scene suggested differs from the similar parable of the virgins waiting for their Lord, in that it does not describe a wedding feast. Here it is a householder already in his house, and, at the close of the day, locking up for the night. Some of his servants have not returned in time, have not come in through the narrow gate, which is now not only narrow, but closed by the master’s own hand. The translation of that is that, by a decisive act of Christ’s in the future, the time for entrance will he ended. As in reference to each stage of life, specific opportunities are given in it for securing specific results, and these can never be recovered if the stage is past; so mortal life, as a whole, is the time for entrance, and if it is not used for that purpose, entrance is impossible. If the youth will not learn, the man will be ignorant. If the sluggard will not plough because the weather is cold, he will ‘beg in harvest.’ If we do not strive to enter at the gate, it is vain to seek entrance when the Master’s own hand has barred it.

The language of our Lord here seems to shut us up to the conclusion that life is the time in which we can gain our entrance. It is no kindness to suggest that perhaps He does not shut the door quite fast. We know, at all events, that it is wide open now.

The words put into the mouths of the excluded sufficiently define their characters, and the reasons why they sought in vain. Why did they want to be in? Because they wished to get out of the cold darkness into the warm light of the bountiful house. But they neither knew the conditions of entrance nor had they any desire after the true blessings within. Their deficiencies are plainly marked in their pleas for admission. At first, they simply ask for entrance, as if thinking that to wish was to have. Then, when the Householder says that He knows nothing about them, and cannot let strangers in, they plead as their qualification that they had eaten and drunk in His presence, and that He had taught in their streets. In these words, the relations of Christ’s contemporaries are described, and their immediate application to them is plain.

Outward connection with Jesus gave no claim to share in His kingdom. We have to learn the lesson which we who live amidst a widely diffused, professing Christianity sadly need. No outward connection with Christ, in Christian ordinances or profession, will avail to establish a claim to have the door opened for us. A man may be a most respectable and respected church-member, and have listened to Christian teaching all his days, and have in life a vague wish to be ‘saved,’ and yet be hopelessly unfit to enter, and therefore irremediably shut out.

The Householder’s answer, in its severity and calmness, indicates the inflexible impossibility of opening to such seekers. It puts stress on two things-the absence of any vital relationship between Him and them, and their moral character. He knows nothing about them, and not to be known by the Master of the house is necessarily to be shut out from His household. They are known of the Shepherd who know Him and hear His voice. They who are not must stay in the desert. Such mutual knowledge is the basis of all righteousness, and righteousness is the essential condition of entrance.

These seekers are represented as still working iniquity. They had not changed their moral nature. They wished to enter heaven, but they still loved evil. How could they come in, even if the door had been open? Let us learn that, while faith is the door, without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The worker of iniquity has only an outward relation to Jesus. Inwardly he is separated from Him, and, at last, the outward relation will be adjusted to the inward, and departure from Him will be inevitable, and that is ruin.

III. Boldly and searchingly personal as the preceding words had been, the final turn of Christ’s answer must have had a still sharper and more distasteful edge.

He had struck a blow at Jewish trust in outward connection with Messiah as ensuring participation in His kingdom. He now says that the Gentiles shall fill the vacant places. Many Jews will be unable to enter, for all their seeking, but still there will be many saved; for troops of hated Gentiles shall come from every corner of the earth, and the sight of them sitting beside the fathers of the nation, while Israel after the flesh is shut out, will move the excluded to weeping-the token of sorrow, which yet has in it no softening nor entrance-securing effect, because it passes into ‘gnashing of teeth,’ the sign of anger. Such sorrow worketh death.

Such fierce hatred, joined with stiff-necked obstinacy, has characterised the Jew ever since Jerusalem fell. ‘If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.’ Israel was first, and has become last. The same causes which sent it from the van to the rear have worked like effects in ‘Christendom,’ as witness Asia Minor and the mosques into which Christian churches have been turned.

These causes will produce like effects wherever they become dominant. Any church and any individual Christian who trusts in outward connection with Christ, and works iniquity, will sooner or later fall into the rear, and if repentance and faith do not lead it or him through the strait gate, will be among those ‘last’ who are so far behind that they are shut out altogether. Let us ‘be not high-minded, but fear.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARE THE SAVED FEW?

Luk 13:22-29. Our Savior answers the above question in the affirmative — i.e., that the saved are few — certainly a very alarming affirmation of our Infallible Lord. Shall you and I be numbered with those favored few? “And He was journeying through cities and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem.” He is over in Perea, the country of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing the sick. “And one said to Him, Lord, are the saved few?” (That is, “Are those who are saved many or few?) The answer is a decisive affirmation that the saved are few. This awful result is not because the people do not desire to be saved, but stupefied by the enemy, they take too much risk. They are willing to walk as near-hell as possible, just so as not to fall into it. When an English nobleman advertised for a carriage- driver, three young men report in his office, candidates for the position. Turning to Number One, he says: “Sir, there is an awful precipice, five hundred feet sudden fall, along one of my carriage roads; how near can you run to it with perfect security?” Dropping his head a moment, looking up, he says, “Sir, I can run within eighteen inches of: it with perfect safety.” Then turning to Number Two, he said,’ “Sir; What have you to say for yourself?” “O, I can run within a foot of it with the utmost safety,” thinking he had to beat the other one or miss the job. Finally, turning to Number Three, who by this time is much excited, and in response to the nobleman’s question, “How near can you run?” throws up both hands and exclaims, “Sir, if I drive your carriage, I shall run as far from it as I can every time.” “Well,” says the nobleman, “you are the very man I want to drive it. I would not, for a bushel of money, risk my wife and children in the hands of one of these other fellows.” While nobody is willing to go to hell, they take the risk of going too nigh the brink. Consequently devils lasso them, trip them up, and tumble them in by millions, the only way to escape hell being to go as far from it as you can.

“And He said to them, Agonize to enter in through the narrow door, because many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.” The pearly gate through which we enter the celestial metropolis is not narrow, but amply capacious for the ingress and egress of the sainted millions and angelic billions. This is the door of admission into the kingdom of grace, which we pass through in regeneration, so narrow, contracted, and difficult of entrance that the soul must give up everything, and squeeze naked through that strait gate. The E. V. “strive” is too weak for the Greek agonidzesthe; i.e., “agonize.” This verb is from agona, the gladiatorial combat in which the gladiator fought for his life, doomed to die on the spot or conquer his antagonist. Hence this word means to put forth all the power of soul, mind, body, home, estate, influence, and everything we can possibly command, subsidize, or utilize. I have seen so much of this in our revivals, people agonizing as in the throes of death, fainting away, and losing the power of their bodies, lying for hours as if they were dead. We do not attach spiritual moment to physical demonstrations, but merely mention the latter by way of illustrating the soul-agony, without which, Jesus says, no one shall enter. We live in an age of superficialism, and, sad to say, it is pre-eminent in religion as well as everything else appertaining to this life. Many seek; but Jesus says they shall not enter in without this soul-agony. The Civil War over slavery deluged the land with blood and heaped it with the slain. Terrible was the suffering of the Nation while that deep-rooted, eating cancer was being torn loose by cannon-balls and cut out with the sword. Sin has so interwoven the warp and woof of the spiritual, mental, and physical constitution, that it is like drawing eye- teeth, cutting off right hands, and plucking out right eyes to get rid of it and enter the kingdom of God.

“When the landlord may rise up and close the door, and you will begin to stand without and knock at the door, saying, Lord, open unto us; and, responding, He will say to you, I know not whence you are; then you will begin to say, We were accustomed to eat and drink in your presence, and You taught in our streets; and He will say, I say unto you, I know not whence you are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.” Our Lord is here addressing the preachers and members of the popular Churches. What a scene in the judgment-day, when these Church members come up from every land and clime, and knock for admission into heaven, having spent their lives in certain anticipation of getting there! When Jesus tells them He knows them not, they remind Him of the sacrament which they had participated in, in the house of God on the holy Sabbath, thus eating and drinking in His presence, when His Word was read and expounded in their Churches. How awful the final issue, “Depart from Me, all ye workers of unrighteousness!” The truth of the matter is, they were strangers to the righteousness of Christ by which we are justified, having spent their lives in the delusion, finally to wake up in hell. Now these people were all, in a sense, seeking to enter; yet they were strangers to that soul-agony peculiar to the spiritual birth. Everything is born into the world with excruciating pain and agony, thus vividly symbolizing the birth of the soul.

“And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.” They verily believed that they were in the unbroken succession of the patriarchs and prophets, and avowedly and pertinaciously claimed to have the same religion which had cheered their holy ancestry in a dying hour. But you see they were egregiously mistaken. How history repeats itself! Good Lord, send down awakening power to the Church of the present day, and alarm the slumbering millions in the track of fallen Judaism! If the followers of Luther, Bunyan, Knox, Fox, and Wesley only had the religion which filled and thrilled these heroic spirits, qualifying them to light up the world in their day and generation, and kindle the signal fires on the summits of evangelistic mountains, which brightly glow today and will shine on till Jesus comes, they would certainly be all right; but O what a weeping and wailing when they shall see these sainted prophets, as well as those of the old dispensation, along with the apostles and martyrs, safe in the kingdom of God, and they themselves cast out!

“And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.” This is a beautiful prophecy relating to the call of the Gentiles, which our Lord gave in the Great Commission, just before He left the world. The kingdom of God, as you see here, both in the olden times and the Gospel Age, is the Divine administration, in contradistinction to Satan’s government, with which all the wicked are identified. Hence we see that the saints of all ages have been citizens of the kingdom of God. That kingdom, however, like everything else in the Divine economy, is wonderfully evolutionary in its character, symbolized by the starlight in antediluvian times; the moon approaching the horizon in the patriarchal ages, and shining in her beauty amid the glittering constellations in the Mosaic dispensation; day dawning with John the Baptist, and the sun rising when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, who shone upon the earth till He reached the celestial zenith, then ascending into glory; the noonday culminating at Pentecost, the sun going not down, like the diurnal orb, but, as in the days of Joshua, standing still amid the heavens, evolving floods of hallowed light, bursting forth on heathen nations, thus expediting our Lord’s return, in glory to reign, when that blessed kingdom, which has been the light and glory of all the saints, from Abel down to the latest generations, shall no longer be restricted to the souls of men, but reach out and girdle the whole world, every monarch doffing his crown at the feet of King Jesus, who shall be coronated and sceptered King of kings and Lord of lords;

“For He shall have dominion over river, sea, and shore, Far as the eagle’s pinion or dove’s light wing can soar;”

Satan having been arrested as a common criminal and locked up in hell, no longer on earth to mar the beauty and glory of the Lord’s triumphant kingdom, in millennial victories girdling the globe, and bringing back the bright memories of an unfallen Eden.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 13:22. Εἰς, towards) His route was arranged with a view to reaching Jerusalem at the terminus of a journey especially memorable. See Luk 13:33, ch. Luk 17:11, Luk 18:31, Luk 19:11; Luk 19:28.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 13:22-30 . Are there few that be saved? This section is a mosaic of words found dispersed in the pages of Mt.: the strait gate (Luk 13:24 ) in Mat 7:14 ; the pleading for admission (Luk 13:26-27 ) recalls Mat 7:21-23 ; the exclusion from the kingdom (Luk 13:28-29 ) reproduces Mat 8:11-12 ; the apothegm in Luk 13:30 = Mat 19:30 ; Mat 20:16 . The parabolic word concerning the master of the house (Luk 13:25 ) seems to be an echo from the parable of the ten virgins . The question as to the number of the saved introducing the group need not be an artificial heading furnished by Lk. or the compiler of his source.

Luk 13:22 is a historical notice serving to recall the general situation indicated in Luk 9:51 . So again in Luk 17:11 . “Luke gives us to understand that it is always the same journey which goes on with incidents analogous to those of the preceding cycle,” Godet. Hahn, however, maintains that here begins a new division of the history and a new journey to Jerusalem, yet not the final one. This division extends from this point to Luk 17:10 , and contains (1) words of Jesus on the way to Jerusalem (Luk 13:22-35 ), (2) words spoken probably in Jerusalem (Luk 14:1-24 ), (3) words spoken after the return to Galilee. διδάσκων , teaching; the main occupation of Jesus as He went from village to village. The long section from Luk 9:51 to Luk 18:14 is chiefly didactic in contents, though an occasional healing is recorded. καὶ πορ . ποι ., the καὶ is epexegetic = and at the same time; His face set towards Jerusalem as He taught.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Second Cycle: A New Series of Incidents in the Journey, Luk 13:22 to Luk 17:10.

Ver. 22 serves as an introduction to this whole cycle. Jesus slowly continues His journey of evangelization (διεπορεύετο, He proceeded through the country), stopping at every city, and even at every village (κατά, distributive), taking advantage of every occasion which presents itself to instruct both those who accompany Him and the people of the place, only pursuing in the main a general direction toward Jerusalem (διδάσκων, ποιούμενος). Nothing could be more natural than this remark, which is founded on the general introduction, Luk 9:51, and in keeping with the analogous forms used in cases of summing up and transition, which we have observed throughout this Gospel.

1. The Rejection of Israel, and the Admission of the Gentiles: Luk 13:23-30. An unforeseen question calls forth a new flash. It was probably evoked by a saying of Jesus, which appeared opposed to the privileges of Israel, that is to say, to its national participation in the Messianic blessedness.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Against them which had rather err with many, than go right with a few, and by that means through their own slowness, are shut out of the kingdom of God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 22. Journeying toward Jerusalem.] Luke represents all that is said, from Lu 9:51, as having been done and spoken while Christ was on his last journey to Jerusalem. See Clarke on Lu 9:51, and See Clarke on Lu 12:58, and see the Preface.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying.—Literally, making a journey, as implying a circuit deliberately planned. This is apparently the continuation of the same journey as that of which Luk_9:51 recorded the beginning. There seems reason to believe, as stated in the Note on that passage, that it lay chiefly through the cities and villages of Peræa, the modern Hauran, on the east side of the Jordan. Such a journey, though with comparatively little record of what happened on it, is implied in Mat_19:1, Mar_10:1, in the retirement “beyond Jordan” of Joh_10:40. It had led our Lord at first through Samaria (Luk_9:52), then back to Samaria and Galilee again (Luk_17:11), then either from the east, crossing the river, or from the west to Jericho (Luk_18:35).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22-30. The Narrow Door.

22. he went through the cities and villages] Some see in this the starting-point of a separate journey. The expression is too vague on which to build. It may imply a fresh progress after some brief period of rest.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said one unto him,.... Not one of his disciples, but one of the company, in some one of the cities or villages he passed through, or as he was in the road to Jerusalem:

are there few that be saved? It is a received opinion among the Jews (z), that all Israel shall have a part in the world to come; and this man might put the question to know whether Christ was of this sentiment or not. And by some things he had observed drop from him, and it may be the foregoing parables, which express the small beginnings of his kingdom, and seem to signify, that at first his Gospel should be received but by a few, though it should afterwards spread, he might collect, that his sense was, there would be but a few saved; or this might be a question of mere curiosity and speculation, as it seems to be, by Christ's treatment of it, who does not give a direct answer to it, but puts him and others upon showing a concern for their own salvation.

And he said unto them; not to the man only that put the question, but to the whole company; though the Persic and Ethiopic versions read, "he said unto him", as follows.

(z) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Ver. 22. See Mat 9:35; Mar 6:6.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cities and villages - Chiefly of Galilee, and those which were between Galilee and Jerusalem.

Teaching and journeying - This evinces the diligence of our Lord. Though on a journey, yet he remembered his work. He did not excuse himself on the plea that he was in haste. Christians and Christian ministers should remember that when their Master traveled he did not “conceal” his character, or think that he was then freed from obligation to do good.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Still wherever we find our blessed Lord, we find him teaching, and that not by an exemplary life only, but by word of mouth. There are different opinions whether our Saviour was now journeying towards Jerusalem with respect to the passover, or some other great festival of the Jews.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. This note of the evangelist simply calls attention that the last solemn progress in the direction of the capital was still going on. The question has been discussed at length above. St. Luke, by these little notes of time and place, wishes to direct attention to the fact that all this part of the Gospel relates to one great division of the public ministry to that which immediately preceded the last Passover.

Vers. 22-30. The question and the answer.

"He went through the cities and villages." The circuits into which the ministry of Jesus was divided are most interesting. "He went about doing good." One feature is suggested by the evangelist"s sentence. The village is not overlooked. If the desire had been merely to gain influence, he would have limited the teaching to the city. "Win the great centres of the populations; thus you will establish your reputation; thence the light will radiate to the obscurer places; this would have described the method of the action. Christ had another method. The small hamlet, no less than the crowded town, was the scene of his labour. It was the passion for souls which inspired him. The human soul, under all outward conditions, was one and the same to him. "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Note the direction of the face. He is "journeying towards Jerusalem." The shadows of Gethsemane and Golgotha are lengthening. Ever before him, and now pressing on his heart, is the thought of the decease that he should accomplish. It is the occasion at once of the Saviour"s sorrow and the Saviour"s joy. The teaching would have been little without the forecast of the sacrifice; apart from the sacrifice, it loses its power. Jerusalem and its cross is the reference ever present to the Christian minister, whether in city or in village. In one of the places visited, the Lord is accosted by a person of whom the only notice is, "Then said one unto him." But the incident is instructive. It reminds us of

(1) a kind of question that is to be discountenanced; and

(2) a kind of practical exhortation that is to be enforced.

I A KIND OF QUESTION THAT IS TO BE DISCOUNTENANCED. There is no reason to doubt the good faith of the interrogator. He is reverent in his inquiry, "Lord." There is nothing captious in his tone. He is the type of many earnest minds, puzzled over the problems of human life and destiny minds that feel the pressure of the things which circumscribe the opportunity of multitudes, the bars which seem to interpose between men"s souls and salvation, the limitations arising from imperfect knowledge and untoward condition; and, looking far and near over the ever-pouring throng, ask, "Lord, what will this man and that man do? What is the extent, to which the purpose to save will be realized?" He answers by not answering. The absence of a direct reply is itself a reply. It intimates that speculations and inquiries in the line of the word addressed to him are not to be encouraged. There was the wisdom which he emphasizes in the response once given by a child of quietness to the question, "What are the decrees of God?" "He knows that best himself," was the response. There are secrets which belong to the Lord our God, and these we must be content to leave with him. The things revealed belong to us; and these are expressed in the assurances that God loved the world, that whosoever believeth in the only begotten Son shall not perish, that he who comes to Christ he will in no way cast out. They forget Christ"s silence on the occasion before us who dogmatize either Calvinistically or Arminianistically. What can poor human nature do, in view of all that relates to the ultimate state of men, but simply trust him who is absolute Righteousness and Infinite Love? We may "faintly trust" larger hopes; we can, not faintly, but fully, trust him who will do what is best for all, who "hateth nothing that he hath made." "Wait till he shall himself disclose Things now beyond thy reach, And be not thou meanwhile of those Who the Lord"s secrets teach. "Who teach thee more than he has taught, Tell more than he revealed, Preach tidings which he never brought, And read what he left sealed.

II A KIND OF PRACTICAL EXHORTATION THAT IS TO BE ENFORCED, Withdrawing the mind of the inquirer from vague speculations, the matter which the Lord places next before him is this, "Agonize to enter in at the strait gate." How urgent, how solemn is the entreaty! The strait gate! Is it not a wide and ever-open one? Yes, in one sense it is. None who come with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, will be, can be, excluded. There is room for the east, and for the west, and for the north, and for the south; all nations, kindreds, peoples, and tongues. Christ"s aim is, a universal religion. He throws his arms wide to all who labour and are heavy laden. But, in another sense, it is a strait gate. It is too narrow to admit any one in his sins. It is too narrow to admit the Pharisee in his Pharisaism, or the Sadducee in his Sadduceeism, or the Herodian in his Herodianism; too narrow to admit any one in his "- ism," in his self-righteousness, in anything on which he rests with satisfaction as a ground of distinction or superiority. All who enter, enter as sinners looking for the mercy of God, and desiring to be cleansed from all unrighteousness. "Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling.

The entrance into the strait gate is the first of all interests, is the most pressing of all concerns. Instead of scattering energy over secondary issues, energy is to be concentrated on this. Put your whole strength into the accomplishment of the one end. Christ insists, "Strive or "agonize to enter." "Faith is a very simple thing." Yet there is a discipline which is not a very simple thing. Evangelical, especially the phase which is called evangelistic, preaching too often overlooks the discipline. It is frequently an exclusive repetition of the cry, "Believe, and you receive; believe, and you shall live." It forgets that the beginning of the gospel of Christ was "Repent!" It has not a distinct enough place for repentance. It is so occupied with the endeavour to make the way easy, that it fails to urge, with the intensity of Jesus" preaching, the necessity of a thorough self-repression, of a real taking of the cross, of the fighting of the good fight of faith. Let none overlook the agonistic side of the Christian life. Let the preacher echo and illustrate the sharp, stern, "Agonize to enter in not, indeed, a joyless and weary, but always, to flesh and blood, a real agony. There are three enforcements of the exhortation.

1. Many are unable to enter: unable when the desire becomes active. The door was open when the desire was torpid, when the heart was listless. They might have heard the beseechings of grace, but there was only a feeble response. Perhaps they intended, at some time, to enter; like Augustine, who prayed for his conversion, and added, "But not yet." Anyhow, the hour is coming when the impotence of unfulfilled intentions will be made manifest. Jesus" language passes (ver. 25) into the familiar form of parable. He imagines the Master of the house allowing the door to stand open the invitation to all free and full. But at length he rises and shuts the door, and then those who had thought that any time would do, that there was no call to make haste, rush forward, clamouring for the entrance of which they had thought little their clamour to be met only with the retort, "I know you not whence ye are." "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them." These had not heard his voice. It is not the attraction of his voice to which they confess; it is only the sense of their danger. And the word goes forth for judgment: "I know you not; you are not mine." The parable is not to be unduly strained; but the point which it tends to illustrate is the necessity of instant, as well as earnest, agonizing. There is a "too late, too late!" From its unutterable darkness may the good Lord deliver us!

2. Enjoyment of privilege will not avail as a plea. (Vers. 26, 27) To have had the teaching of the Lord in street and house, to have lived in the marvellous light of his gospel, to have realized his fellowship and the influences of his grace, this is much. But the vital matter is, what is the use which has been made of privilege, of opportunity, of instruction, of means of grace? That the Lord displayed his tokens in our midst may only add to our condemnation. Negligence, hardness of heart, the contempt of his Word and commandments, which is evidenced in the refusal to yield ourselves wholly to him who speaks from heaven, is iniquity; and most solemn is the protestation, "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

3. Grace unavailed of is blessing lost. (Vers. 28-30) The Jew assured himself that in the kingdom of God, when declared, he would share the everlasting banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and that part of the zest of this feast would be the consciousness that the hated Gentiles were excluded. The Lord warns his audience that the picture might be, would be, reversed. The grace which they would not use would be transferred to others, coming from the east, and the west, and the north, and the south. And he concludes with the sentence, which at other timer also he utters, "There are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." Verily it may here be added, "He that hath an ear, let him hear.

Vers. 22-35. Christ"s farewell words to the theocracy.

As Jesus was journeying steadily towards Jerusalem, the people saw that a crisis was at hand. Hence their anxiety to know how many would be saved in the new kingdom. They consequently inquire if the number of the saved shall be few. To this speculation the Lord returns a very significant answer; he tells them that many shall strive to enter in on false grounds, and that they should strive to enter in on true ones.

I THOSE WHO SPECULATE ABOUT NUMBERS ARE USUALLY PEOPLE WHO PLUME THEMSELVES UPON THEIR PRIVILEGES, (Ver. 26) It is wonderful how men deceive themselves. Here we find our Saviour asserting that at the last people shall come maintaining that because they have eaten and drunk in his presence, and because he has taught in their streets, they should be accepted and saved. We should naturally imagine that these privileges should lead souls to inquire anxiously and how they have profited by them, whereas they are made the ground of claim and the hope of salvation. The Jews thought that, because they were possessed of privileges beyond other nations, they should be accepted before God; and self-righteous people to-day think that, because they have regularly gone to church and sacrament, and the various privileges of the sanctuary, they should for this reason be accepted and saved at last. So far from privileges constituting a ground of salvation, they are certain to prove a ground of increasing condemnation, if not faithfully used. People may be sinners all the time that they are associating with saints, They may be sitting at groaning tables provided by God, they may be listening to the lessons which he has furnished in his holy gospel, and yet their hearts may be homes of vanity, waywardness, and sin.

II OUR LORD DIRECTS THEM TO STRIVE TO ENTER IN AT THE STRAIT GATE INSTEAD OF SPECULATING ABOUT NUMBERS. (Ver. 24) Many are more addicted to speculation and religious controversy than to decision of character. They would rather argue a point than make sure of their personal salvation. Now, what was the strait gate in our Lord"s time? It was attachment to himself as the humiliated Messiah, just as the wide gate and broad way were the expectation of a glorious and worldly Messiah (cf. Godet, in loc. ). It is easy to attach one"s self to a winning, worldly cause; it needs no spiritual preparation. But it was not easy, but took an effort of self-denial, to stick to the despised Saviour through all his sad and humiliating experience. And the same struggle is still needed, The cause of Christ is not a winning, worldly cause. You might do better in a worldly sense without identifying yourself with Jesus. But no man will ever have reason to regret identifying himself with the Saviour. No matter what self-denial it entails, it is worth all the struggle.

III THE LAST JUDGMENT SHALL BE A REVERSAL OF HUMAN JUDGMENTS. (Vers. 25-30) The current notions of Christ"s time accorded to the Pharisees and religious formalists the chief seats in the new order of things which Messiah was to introduce. But Christ showed plainly that the Pharisaism and formalism of sinners will not save them or their sins in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. The first shall then be last; while the last in the world"s estimation shall be the first in God"s. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have received scanty recognition from the Pharisees of Christ"s time; the patriarchs were men of a meek and quiet spirit, who did not seek to exalt themselves. Hence our Lord represents the despised ones getting to their bosom at the last, while the bustling Pharisees shall find themselves cast out.

IV WE HAVE NEXT TO NOTICE CHRIST"S CONTEMPT FOR HEROD, (Vers. 31, 32) It was thought by some of the poor spirits in the crowd that Christ would quail before the murderous king Herod, and that the sooner he got out of his jurisdiction the better. But no sooner do they suggest this to Christ, than he bursts into contemptuous terms about the cunning king. He calls him fox, and tells them to tell him, if they like, "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." The perfection of which he speaks is that which is reached through experience. Christ was sinless, but he had to go through the whole gamut of human trial, including death itself. He had to experience all the" undertones" of human experience before he could be perfect. Hence he was "made perfect through suffering." Contempt of others may be the very finest proof of our healthy moral state. It is the antipodes of that despicable flattery which is generally extended to kings.

V LASTLY, WE MUST NOTICE HIS LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM, BECAUSE THE MURDERER OF THE PROPHETS. (Vers. 33-35) Our Lord was going to perish at Jerusalem. The reason was that there the policy of the nation was carried out, and all the prophets had found there their fate, and yet Christ had offered his protection to the doomed city. As easily as ever hen gathered her tiny brood beneath her wings could he gather the whole cityful under his wings. It is a beautiful and indirect proof of his Divinity. No mere man would have expressed himself thus. But Jerusalem would not accept his protection. Instead thereof, it resolved to murder him, as the last in the line of the prophets. No wonder, therefore, that their house was left desolate, and that the murdered Messiah would withdraw himself until better times! He takes his "adieu of the theocracy," to use the words of Godet, and speaks of a welcome being his when the new views of a better time shall prevail. How important that we all should accept the proffered protection of the Saviour, and not imitate Jerusalem in her obstinacy and her doom! R.M.E.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Entering in at the strait gate:

v. 22. And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

v. 23. Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And He said unto them,

v. 24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

v. 25. When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are,

v. 26. then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.

v. 27. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.

v. 28. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

v. 29. And they shall come from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

v. 30. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

The final goal of Jesus was Jerusalem; thither He was making His way by easy stages. But, according to His plan, He stopped in the cities and villages along the way, continuing the work of His ministry with unabated faithfulness to the last. Teaching was the main occupation of Jesus at this time, the outstanding feature of His work. And His teaching doubtless touched again and again upon the admonition to be prepared for the last great day with its judgment. This fact caused some person in one of the places visited by Jesus to ask Him the half-idle, half-serious question, whether there would be only a few to be saved. He that is concerned seriously about his salvation does not put the question that way, but rather sets his mind upon the way of attaining salvation for himself. Jesus therefore does not answer the question directly, but addresses the questioner and all that share his curiosity in a serious admonition. Every person should strive earnestly, struggle as seriously, and exert himself as assiduously as an athlete coveting victory, to enter into heaven through the narrow gate. Heaven is here pictured as a house from which certain people exclude themselves. They strive to enter, they seek a way, but of their own choosing, and therefore their efforts are idle, their attempts futile: they are not able to accomplish their purpose. There is only one Way, and that is Jesus Christ, the Savior. Faith in His salvation will open the door; every other method is bound to fail. "Why, for what reason, can they not enter? For that reason that they do not know what the narrow gate is; for that is faith, which makes a person small, yea, altogether nothing, that he must despair of his own works and cling only to God’s grace, forgetting all other things because of that. But the saints of Cain’s kind think that good works are the narrow gate; therefore they do not become humble, do not despair of their works, yea, they gather them with great sacks, hang them around themselves, and thus endeavor to get through; but they have as little chance to go through as the camel with its great hump has to pass through the eye of a needle. " The hour is coming when the master of the house, God Himself, will arise from His throne. Jesus, sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, through the Gospel is calling out to all men: Come, for all things are now ready. He is waiting for them to accept the invitation, He has set a certain time of grace. But when that time has elapsed, then He will close the door. He will return in heavenly glory before the whole world, and then the door to heaven will no longer be open. The time of the world and the time of grace will then be at an end. Then some will want to come to the closed door and rap and call to the Lord to open to them. But it will be too late. They have not heeded the invitation in time, and now the Lord gives them the terrible answer: I know you not. They do not belong to His own, they have not turned to Him in repentance and faith. Even if they insist upon it, as the Jews could do in the full sense of the word, that He had lived in their midst, had eaten and drunk before them, that He had taught them on their streets, they will receive the same answer, and they must stand back from Him and be condemned as workers of iniquity. Note: On the last day those that were Christians in name only will try to frame similar excuses, reminding the Lord of the fact that they heard the Word of God in a church where the pure doctrine was proclaimed, that they were baptized, that they were instructed in the Christian doctrine. And even those that merely lived in a Christian Community, and occasionally permitted Christian influence to graze them, will come and try to state this fact as an argument. But all arguing will be too late. The fact remains that all such people did not accept Jesus and His Word, but stubbornly remained in their sins, and therefore will die and be condemned in their sins. Then, when it is too late, remorse will come. Then there will be weeping in helpless fury and in delayed sorrow for sins; then there will be gnashing of teeth over a foolishness that has been recognized as such too late. And not the least part of damnation will consist in this, that these poor souls will see the blessedness of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in heaven, while they themselves will be rejected and condemned to the everlasting abyss of hell. And not only will the patriarchs and prophets enjoy the bliss of the kingdom of heaven, but there will be representatives from the East and from the West and from the North and from the South, all reclining at the feast of joy and happiness before the throne of God. And all this the unfortunate late-comers, that procrastinated once too often, will be able to see, Luk 16:23-24. The Lord here uses the same thoughts which He has employed also in other places where He has touched upon the necessity of being prepared. There are resemblances to the story of the ten virgins, to the rich man and poor Lazarus, to the Last Judgment, to the story of the centurion of Capernaum. And the gist of the warning is always the same, not to depend upon outward membership of the Church, not to delay real repentance until it is too late. For there are last that will be first, and there are first that will be last. Such as believe, by reason of the circumstances of their life, that they are members of God’s kingdom, as the Jews did on account of their descent from Abraham, will find themselves last and excluded from the blessedness of heaven. But many that became members of the Church from conviction of their hearts, without having had the advantages which church members had from their youth, may become first, since they have repented truly and realized the things that pertain to their peace. All things being equal, the person that grows up in the midst of the Church, is baptized in infancy, learns the truth of Scriptures in a Christian school, and is always surrounded by the best conditions, should have the best knowledge and the soundest faith in Jesus, the Savior. But if such a person disregards these blessings and the greater responsibility resting upon him, his punishment will be all the greater, as one that despised the riches of the mercy and grace of God, not knowing that the goodness of God was calling him to repentance, Luk 12:47-48.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. The unwearied pains and diligence of our holy Lord in preaching and publishing the glad tidings of the gospel to lost sinners: He went through the cities and villages teaching; not in great and populous cities only, but in poor and obscure villages also; not preaching by his exemplary life only, but by his holy doctrine likewise. Let such preachers, who look upon the work of preaching as the least part of their business, consider the indefatigable pains which our Lord took in that work; and how will his diligence shame our negligence!

Observe, 2. A curious question put to our Saviour concerning the number of those that should be saved, whether they should be few or many: Lord, are there few that be saved?

Where note, how curiously inquisitive we naturally are after the knowledge of things that do not concern us, how forward to pry into unrevealed secrets, and to search into God’s hidden counsel; it concerns us rather to understand what sort of persons shall be saved, than how many shall be saved, and to make sure that we be of that sort.

Observe, 3. Our Saviour gives no direct answer to the curiousity of this inquiry, but turns his speech from him to the people: Jesus said unto them, strive to enter in at the strait gate, etc. For the clear understanding of which expression we must know, that Christ alludes to the feasts and marriage suppers among the Jews: they that were invited did enter by a gate which was very strait and narrow; and as soon as the invited were once entered, the gate was shut, and opened no more. Here Christ bids them strive to enter into the kingdom of heaven, before the gate is shut against them, and their entrance, by means of their coming too late, be made impossible to them: Strive to enter...for many will seek, etc.

Where note,

1. The metaphor which Christ is pleased to set forth heaven, and the happiness of a future state, by; he compares it to a strait gate: to a gate, to denote the possibility of entering; to a strait gate, to denote the difficulty of entrance: a gate supposes the entrance possible, but a strait gate bespeaks the entrance difficult.

2. Here is a duty urged and enforced upon all those that expect the happiness of another life, and desire to enter in at this strait gate, and that is, a diligent and industrious striving: Strive to enter in at the strait gate.

3. We have a forcible argument and motive to excite and quicken us to the practice of this duty, drawn from the paucity, or small number, of those that shall obtain salvation in a dying hour: Many will seek to enter in, but shall not be able.

Learn thence,

1. That heaven or the happiness of a future state, is attainable.

2. That it is not attainable without labor and difficulty.

3. That all those difficulties may be happily overcome by a diligent and industrious striving.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXXXIX. The Strait Gate].

LXXXIX. THE STRAIT GATE. WARNED AGAINST HEROD. (Peræa.) cLUKE XIII. 22-35.

c22 And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on unto Jerusalem. [This verse probably refers back to Luk_13:10, and indicates that Jesus resumed his journey after the brief rest on the Sabbath day when he healed the woman with the curvature of the spine.] 23 And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? [It is likely that this question was asked by a Jew, and that the two parables illustrating the smallness of the kingdom's beginning suggested it to him. The Jews extended their exclusive spirit even to their ideals of a world to come, so that they believed none but the chosen race would behold its glories. The circumstances attending to the conversion of Cornelius, recorded in Acts, show how this exclusiveness survived even among Jewish Christians. The questioner wished Jesus to commit himself to this narrow Jewish spirit, or else to take a position which would subject him to the charge of being unpatriotic.] And he said unto them, 24 Strive [literally, agonize] to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto [488] you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. [Jesus answers that many shall be excluded from the kingdom, and that the questioner, and all others who hear, need to exercise themselves and give the matter their own personal attention lest they be among that many. The passage should be compared with that in Matthew, Mat_19:30, Mat_20:10), to be interpreted by such passages as Mat_21:31, Rom_9:30, Rom_9:31. The Jew who thought the Gentile had no hope at all, and that he himself was sure of salvation, would be surprised to find that his opinion was the very reverse of the real fact as time developed it.] 31 In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying to him, Get thee out, and go hence: for Herod would fain kill thee. [This shows that Jesus was in the territory of Herod Antipas, and hence probably in Peræa. The Pharisees, no doubt, wished to scare Jesus that they might exult over his fright. We might suppose, too, that their words were untrue, were it not that Jesus sends a reply to Herod. Herod long desired to see Jesus ( Luk_9:9, Luk_23:8), but it was not likely that he desired to put him to death. He was, doubtless, glad enough to get Jesus out of his territory, lest he might foment an uprising, and to this end he employed this strategy of sending messengers to warn Jesus under the guise of friendship.] 32 And he said unto them, Go and say to that fox [i.e., say to that crafty, sly fellow. The fox is a type of craftiness and treachery. We have no other instance where Jesus used such a contemptuous expression; but Herod richly merited it. An Idumæan by his father, a Samaritan by his mother, a Jew by profession, and a heathen by practice, he had need to be foxy by nature. And he was even now playing the fox by sending these messengers], Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third i day I am perfected. 33 Nevertheless [although I know what lies before me] I must go on my way to-day and to-morrow and the i day following: for [490] it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. [Wieseler, Meyer, Alford, and other able commentators think that the days mentioned in this difficult passage are literal days. If the language is to be thus construed, the saying amounts to a promise to leave Herod's territory in three days. Such construction, however, is not consistent with the elevation of the sentiment and the solemnity of its repetition. Three days are thus sometimes used proverbially to designate a short time ( Hos_6:2), and they are unquestionably so used here. The meaning then is this: "For a little while I liberate and heal and abide in your territory to disturb your peace. But in a few days I shall be perfected in my office as a liberator and healer, after which I shall be seen no more in your territory. And though I understand these plots against me, I must fill up my time and go on my course till I suffer martyrdom at Jerusalem, which has the gruesome honor of being the prophet-slaying city." This word "perfected" in this passage finds its complement in the "It is finished" of Joh_19:30. Both the verbs are derived from the Greek word telos, which means end or completion. Compare also 2Co_12:9, Phi_3:12, Heb_2:10, Heb_5:8, Heb_5:9, Heb_11:40. John the Baptist having perished at Machærus in Peræa is regarded as an exception to this rule and the prophets die at Jerusalem. The exception does not disprove the rule, if it be a true exception; which may be questioned, since John died at the hands of Herod and Herodias, neither of whom were, properly speaking Jews. John, therefore, died as a prophet to foreigners rather than as a prophet to the Jewish people.] 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children [inhabitants] together, even as a hen i gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not! [Jesus repeated these words again as recorded in Mat_23:37-39. With such beautiful imagery does Jesus set forth his tender love for the people of that city which he knew would soon compass his death.] 35 Behold, your house [temple] is left unto [491] you i desolate [he was about to withdraw from the temple, which for centuries to come was to be visited by no heavenly messenger whatever]: and I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until ye shall say, Blessed i is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. [It is hardly possible that these words can refer to the triumphal entry for their fulfillment ( Mat_21:9). The use of them on that occasion may have had no reference to his prediction. They undoubtedly refer to the Parousia, or second coming of the Lord in his glory, before which time the Jews must turn and believe ( Rom_11:25-27). Not until they were thus prepared would they again see him without whom they were now rejecting.]

[FFG 488-492]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. He went on his way through the cities. It is supposed, east of the Jordan, in Perea.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Jesus responds to a question by using a metaphor about entering God's kingdom. (See: Metaphor)

are only a few people to be saved?

This could be stated in active form. AT: "will God save only a few people?" (See: Active or Passive)

Struggle to enter through the narrow door

"Work hard to go through the narrow doorway." Jesus is speaking about the entrance to God's kingdom as if it were a small doorway to a house. Since Jesus is talking to a group, the "you" implied in this command is plural. (See: Metaphor and Forms of You)

the narrow door

The fact that the door is narrow implies that it is difficult to go through it. Translate it in a way to keep this restrictive meaning. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

many will want to enter, but will not be able to enter

It is implied that they will not be able to enter because of the difficulty of entering. The next verse explains the difficulty. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Jerusalem

lord

save

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

22–30. THE NARROW DOOR

22. διεπορεύετο κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας. ‘He was continuing His journey through the several cities and villages.’ The κατὰ is distributive. Some see in this the starting-point of a separate journey. The expression is too vague on which to build. It may imply a fresh progress after some brief period of rest.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22-30.] Answer to the question as to the number who shall be saved. Our Lord repeats, occasion being given by a question peculiar to Luke, parts of His discourses spoken elsewhere, as referred to below.

22.] This notice includes what follows in the cycle of this last journey, but disclaims any definiteness of place or time for it. But certainly it seems to follow in natural order after our Lord’s solemn warnings to repentance at the beginning of this chapter.

The enquirer can hardly have been a disciple of Jesus (see ver. 28), but most likely a Jew from the multitude, who had heard his discourses, and either from Jewish pride, or perhaps from real desire to learn from Him, put this question.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22-30. The Danger of being excluded from the Kingdom of God. The warning grows out of the question as to the number of the saved, but no note is given of time or place. The introductory διεπορεύετο seems to point back to 9:51, “He was continuing His journey” (see on 6:1). In any case it is part of the last journeyings which ended in the Passion. For the substance of the discourse comp. Mat 7:13, Mat 7:14, Mat 7:22, Mat 7:23, Mat 7:19:30; Mar 10:31.

22. κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας. Once more we have an amphibolous phrase: see on ver. 11, 10:18, 11:39, 12:1, etc. Either, “He went on His way, teaching through cities and villages”; or, “He went on His way through cities and villages, teaching.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.